Transcription presentation of communication sessions

ABSTRACT

A method may include establishing a communication session with a remote device over a network. After establishing the communication session with the remote device, the method may include obtaining remote audio from the remote device that is provided by the remote device as part of the communication session. The method may also include directing the remote audio received from the remote device to a local device participating in the communication session and to a remote transcription system and obtaining transcript data from the remote transcription system based on the remote audio. The transcript data may include a transcription of the remote audio. The method may further include directing the transcript data to a television for presentation of the transcription of the remote audio by the television such that the transcription of the remote audio is presented substantially aligned with presentation of the remote audio by the local device.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This patent application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional PatentApplication No. 62/407,302, entitled “ENDPOINT NETWORK ENABLEDCOMMUNICATION SESSIONS” filed on Oct. 12, 2016, which is incorporatedherein by reference.

FIELD

The embodiments discussed herein are related to presentation oftranscriptions in communication sessions.

BACKGROUND

Modern telecommunication services provide features to assist those whoare deaf or hearing-impaired. One such feature is a telephone system forthe hearing impaired that obtains transcriptions of audio fromconversations that occur using the telephone system from a captioningprovider. A captioning provider may be a telecommunication service thatis intended to permit a hearing-impaired user to utilize a normaltelephone network.

The subject matter claimed herein is not limited to embodiments thatsolve any disadvantages or that operate only in environments such asthose described above. Rather, this background is only provided toillustrate one example technology area where some embodiments describedherein may be practiced.

SUMMARY

A method to present transcripts of a communication is provided. Themethod includes establishing a communication session with a remotedevice over a network. After establishing the communication session withthe remote device, the method may include obtaining remote audio fromthe remote device that is provided by the remote device as part of thecommunication session. The method may also include directing the remoteaudio received from the remote device to a local device participating inthe communication session and to a remote transcription system andobtaining transcript data from the remote transcription system based onthe remote audio. The transcript data may include a transcription of theremote audio. The method may further include directing the transcriptdata to a television for presentation of the transcription of the remoteaudio by the television such that the transcription of the remote audiois presented substantially aligned with the presentation of the remoteaudio by the local device.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Example embodiments will be described and explained with additionalspecificity and detail through the use of the accompanying drawings inwhich:

FIG. 1 illustrates an example environment for communication sessionsthat include presentations of transcriptions of the communicationsessions;

FIG. 2 illustrates an example network device;

FIG. 3 illustrates another example environment for communicationsessions that include presentations of transcriptions of thecommunication sessions;

FIG. 4 illustrates another example environment for communicationsessions that include presentations of transcriptions of thecommunication sessions;

FIGS. 5a and 5b illustrates example operations to enable communicationsessions that include presentations of transcriptions of thecommunication sessions;

FIG. 6 illustrates an example environment for presentation oftranscriptions;

FIG. 7 illustrates an example method to present transcripts of acommunication;

FIG. 8 illustrates another example method to present transcripts of acommunication;

FIG. 9 illustrates another example method to present transcripts of acommunication; and

FIG. 10 illustrates another example method to present transcripts of acommunication.

DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS

Some embodiments in this disclosure relate to a method and/or systemthat may transcribe communication sessions between multiple devices. Insome embodiments, the method and/or system describe that a communicationsession between a remote device and a device selected from multipledevices may be directed by a host device that handles the communicationprotocols between the selected device and the remote device. In theseand other embodiments, the selected device may receive audio from theremote device and the audio may be provided to a transcription system.

The transcription system may be configured to transcribe the audio and atranscript may be provided to the selected device or another device ofthe multiple devices for presentation to a hearing-impaired user. Thetranscript may assist the hearing-impaired user in understanding theaudio and participate better in the communication session.

Thus, the method and/or system may be configured to facilitate anassisted call with a hearing-impaired user. As used in the presentdisclosure, a “hearing-impaired user” may refer to a person withdiminished hearing capabilities. Hearing-impaired users often have somelevel of hearing ability that has usually diminished over a period oftime such that the hearing-impaired user can communicate by speaking,but that the hearing-impaired user often struggles in hearing and/orunderstanding others. Thus, the system described may be an assistiveservice that may assist a hearing-impaired user to utilize acommunication network and assist the hearing impaired user'sunderstanding of a conversation by providing transcriptions tosupplement voice conversation occurring during communication sessionsthat involve the hearing-impaired user.

In some embodiments, the communication session may be multiplexed sothat each of the multiple devices may receive audio from the remotedevice. In these and other embodiments, the transcription may beprovided to each of the multiple devices for presentation by themultiple devices. Alternatively or additionally, each of the multipledevices may provide audio to the remote device during the communicationsession.

The systems and/or methods described in this disclosure may assist inenabling the generation of a transcription of audio of multiple devicesparticipating in a communication session with another device in place ofthe transcription of audio in only point-to-point communicationsessions. Thus, the systems and/or methods provide at least a technicalsolution to a technical problem associated with the design of currenttranscription systems.

Turning to the figures, FIG. 1 illustrates an example environment 100for communication sessions that include presentations of transcriptionsof the communication sessions. The environment 100 may be arranged inaccordance with at least one embodiment described in the presentdisclosure. The environment 100 may include a first network 102, adevice 110, a public switched telephone network (PSTN) 112, a remotedevice 114, a first networked device 120 a, a second networked device120 b, a third networked device 120 c, a second network 130, and atranscription system 140.

The device 110 may be a digital device that is configured to establish,maintain, and/or terminate communication sessions over various networksbetween various types of devices. In some embodiments, the device 110may be configured to multiplex communications among multiple devices. Inthese and other embodiments, the device 110 may be configured toestablish, maintain, and/or terminate a communication session betweenthe remote device 114 and one or more of the first networked device 120a, the second networked device 120 b, and the third networked device 120c (referred to as the networked device(s) 120). In these and otherembodiments, the device 110 may be configured to operate as anintermediary between the remote device 114 and the networked devices120. For example, the device 110 may be configured to communicate withthe remote device 114 using a first network type and to communicate withone or more of the networked devices 120 using a second network type.The device 110 may handle the networking protocols of the first andsecond network types such that the remote device 114 and the networkeddevices 120 are unaware of differences in the networks and handle thecommunication session as if there were no changes in the network typesor protocols.

In some embodiments, the remote device 114 may be any electronic,analog, or digital device. For example, the remote device 114 mayinclude a laptop computer, a smartphone, a mobile phone, a tabletcomputer, a phone console, a public switched telephone network (PSTN)phone, or any other communication device. The remote device 114 may beconfigured to participate in a communication session with other devices.In the communication session, audio may be exchanged between the remotedevice 114 and the device 110 by way of the PSTN 112. In the presentdisclosure, reference to “audio,” “local audio,” “remote audio,” and“networked device audio” related to communication sessions may includesignals or data that may represent or be used to construct orreconstruct the audio of a communication session. In the presentdisclosure, reference to “video,” local video,” “remote video,” and“networked device video” related to communication sessions may includesignals or data that may represent or be used to construct orreconstruct the video of a communication session. The video may be astream of images that are reproduced to generate the video.

The PSTN 112 may be any combination of analog, digital, and/or opticalnetworks that form a public switched telephone network that maytransport audio of a communication session between the device 110 andthe remote device 114. For example, the device 110 may be directlycoupled to an analog connection and the remote device 114 may be ananalog connection. Between the analog connections coupled to the device110 and the remote device 114, digital and/or optical networks maytransport the audio between the device 110 and the remote device 114.

In some embodiments, the device 110 may be further configured tocommunicate with the transcription system 140. In these and otherembodiments, the device 110 may be configured to provide audio from acommunication session being handled by the device 110 to thetranscription system 140 over the first network 102.

In some embodiments, the first network 102 may have numerous differentconfigurations. In some embodiments, the first network 102 may include apeer-to-peer network. The first network 102 may also be coupled to ormay include portions of a telecommunications network for sending data ina variety of different communication protocols. In some embodiments, thefirst network 102 may be an Internet Protocol (IP) based network. Insome embodiments, the first network 102 may include cellularcommunication networks for sending and receiving communications and/ordata including via hypertext transfer protocol (HTTP), direct dataconnection, wireless application protocol (WAP), etc. The first network102 may also include a mobile data network that may includethird-generation (3G), fourth-generation (4G), long-term evolution(LTE), long-term evolution advanced (LTE-A), Voice-over-LTE (“VoLTE”) orany other mobile data network or combination of mobile data networks.

In some embodiments, the transcription system 140 may include anyconfiguration of hardware, such as processors, servers, and databasesthat are networked together and configured to generate transcript datathat includes a transcript of the audio by transcribing audio receivedover the first network 102. For example, the transcription system 140may include multiple computing systems, such as multiple servers thateach include memory and at least one processor, which are networkedtogether and configured to perform operations as described in thisdisclosure, among other operations. In some embodiments, thetranscription system 140 may include computer-readable-instructions thatare configured to be executed by the transcription system 140 to performoperations described in this disclosure.

In some embodiments, the transcription system 140 may be configured totranscribe audio received from the device 110 to generate transcriptdata of the audio. In some embodiments, the transcription system 140 mayinclude human intermediaries that may re-voice the audio received by thetranscription system 140. The re-voiced audio may be transcribed by asystem that is tuned or configured to the human intermediaries togenerate the transcript data.

The transcription system 140 may provide the transcript data of theaudio to the device 110. The device 110 may be configured to provide thetranscript data of the audio to the networked devices 120 that areparticipating in the communication session. In some embodiments, thetranscript data may include a transcription of the audio and otherinformation configured to direct how the transcription of the audio ispresented.

In some embodiments, the device 110 may communicate with the networkeddevices 120 over the second network 130. In some embodiments, the secondnetwork 130 may be configured as short-range wireless networks, such asa wireless local area network (LAN), a personal area network (PAN), or awireless mesh network (WMN). For example, the second network 130 may benetworks that use Bluetooth® Class 2 and Class 3 communications withprotocols that are managed by the Bluetooth® Special Interest Group(SIG). Other examples of wireless networks may include the IEEE 802.11networks (commonly referred to as WiFi), Zigbee networks, among othertypes of LANS, PANS, and WMNS. In some embodiments, the second network130 may be a combination of the wireless networks, such as Bluetooth®and IEEE 802.11 networks, among other types of combinations ofshort-range wireless networks.

In these and other embodiments, the second network 130 may be generallydescribed as wireless networks, but different wireless protocols may beused for communication between the device 110 and the networked devices120. For example, the device 110 may be configured to communicate withthe first networked device 120 a over an IEEE 802.11 network. Duringoverlapping periods of time, the device 110 may be configured tocommunicate with the second networked device 120 b over a Bluetoothnetwork. Additionally, during overlapping periods of time, the device110 may be configured to communicate with the third networked device 120c over a Zigbee wireless network or some other wireless communicationnetwork. Thus, the term second network 130 as used herein does notindicate that a same type of network is used to communicate with each ofthe networked devices 120, but rather refers generally to wirelessnetworks that may be of any number of different types. Alternatively oradditionally, the device 110 may communicate with each of the networkeddevices 120 over the same type of wireless network.

In some embodiments, the networked devices 120 may be multiple differenttypes of devices that may be used by a hearing-impaired user(s) or otheruser(s). For example, the networked devices 120 may be electronicprocessing devices, such as desktop computers, laptop computers,tablets, smart phones, personal assistant devices, and other hand-heldpersonal computing devices. In some embodiments, the networked devices120 may be a television or other display device. In some embodiments,the networked devices 120 may be personal health care devices, such as aneck loop that acts as a handset, a hearing aid, a call button, an alertbutton, a headset, among other personal health care devices. In someembodiments, one or more of the networked devices 120 may be alertdevices. In these and other embodiments, the one or more of thenetworked devices 120 may simply issue an alert when a request for acommunication session is received at the device 110. For example, thealert may be an audio, visual, or other type of alert. In someembodiments, one or more of the networked devices 120 may be speakerphones or other telephonic devices.

In some embodiments, the networked devices 120 may be a combination ofthe electronic processing devices, the display devices, the personalhealth care devices, the alert devices, and telephonic devices. Forexample, the first networked device 120 a may be a tablet, the secondnetworked device 120 b may be a television, and the third networkeddevice 120 c may be a neck loop that communicates with hearing aids of ahearing-impaired user.

The device 110 may be configured to periodically determine which of thenetworked devices 120 are available for communication sessions. Forexample, when one of the networked devices 120, such as the firstnetworked device 120 a, is first powered on, such as from a sleep modeor from being full-powered off, the first networked device 120 a mayregister with the device 110. In some embodiments, the device 110 maysend out periodic discovery signals to the networked devices 120 toallow the networked devices 120 to register with the device 110.Alternatively or additionally, the networked devices 120 may includeinstructions/protocols to register with the device 110 when powered on.

The device 110 may keep a registry of all of the networked devices 120that are registered with the device 110. The device 110 may poll thenetworked devices 120 to help to maintain the accuracy of the registry.During the polling of the networked devices 120, if one of the networkeddevices 120 does not respond, the device 110 may remove the one of thenetworked devices 120 from the registry.

The device 110 may use the registry to determine which of the networkeddevices 120 may participate in a communication session with the remotedevice 114. For example, the networked devices 120 that are on theregistry at the beginning of a communication session may be requested tobe part of the communication session. After becoming part of thecommunication session, the networked devices 120 may receive audio fromthe communication session and transcript data of the audio.Alternatively or additionally, the networked devices 120 that areregistered during a communication session or that accept requests of thecommunication session may be provided audio and transcript data of theaudio from the communication session after registration.

In some embodiments, the device 110 may obtain further informationregarding the networked devices 120. The information may indicatevarious abilities of the networked devices 120. For example, some of thenetworked devices 120 may be configured to broadcast audio from acommunication session, but may lack a display for presentation oftranscripts based on transcript data. Alternatively or additionally,some of the networked devices 120 may be configured to broadcast audioand display a presentation of transcripts, but may lack a microphone orother device to allow the networked devices 120 to generate audio aspart of the communication session. Alternatively or additionally, someof the networked devices 120 may be configured to indicate that acommunication session is being requested but not allow participation inthe communication session.

In these and other embodiments, the device 110 may provide the portionsof the communication session that are appropriate for the networkeddevices 120. For example, the device 110 may provide audio to a hearingaid but not transcript data of the audio as the hearing aid may notinclude a display to present the transcript data. Alternatively oradditionally, the device 110 may use the information to determine whichof the networked devices 120 may actively participate in thecommunication session. As used herein, to actively participate in acommunication session may involve receiving audio and generating andtransmitting audio during the communication session. For example, atablet with a microphone may actively participate in a communicationsession because a user of the tablet may speak into the microphone suchthat the tablet may generate audio that is shared during thecommunication session. Likewise, the tablet may broadcast received audioover a speaker and present transcript data of the received audio on adisplay. As another example, a television may passively participatebecause the television may broadcast received audio over a speaker andpresent transcript data of the received audio on a display, but may notinclude a microphone to allow the television to generate and transmitaudio.

In some embodiments, one or more of the networked devices 120 may onlyactively participate in a communication session initiated by the one ormore of the networked devices 120. For example, the third networkeddevice 120 c may be an alert button. In these and other embodiments, thethird networked device 120 c may not receive transcript data orparticipate in communication sessions unless the communication sessionis commenced by the third networked device 120 c. In these and otherembodiments, the alert button may be wearable by a user such that acommunication session with a particular individual or system may beestablished if the user is unable to reach another device to begin acommunication session.

In some embodiments, the information regarding the networked devices 120may be updated during the polling of the networked devices 120. In theseand other embodiments, the device 110 may request information regardingthe networked devices 120 during the polling. In some embodiments, theinformation may include whether the networked devices 120 may request acommunication session with the remote device 114. Alternatively oradditionally, the information may be a current configuration of thenetworked devices 120. In these and other embodiments, the networkeddevices 120 may change a configuration based on an interaction from auser, other devices, or particular settings in the networked devices120. For example, the networked devices 120 may change a configurationbased on a schedule of configurations. For example, the first networkeddevice 120 a may change its configuration based on a time of day or dayof the week. In this example, at particular times, the first networkeddevice 120 a may accept audio and transcript data. At other times, thefirst networked device 120 a may accept transcript data and not audio.In some embodiments, the received information may thus update thecurrent configuration of one or more of the networked devices 120 ininstances in which a corresponding configuration may have changed.

Various descriptions of the operation of elements in the environment 100and interactions between the different elements of the environment 100is now provided. In some embodiments, a communication session may bestarted by the remote device 114. In these and other embodiments, thedevice 110 may be associated with a number or other identifier formaking communication sessions. The remote device 114 may send a requestfor a communication session over the PSTN 112 to the device 110. Thedevice 110 may receive the communication session request and send therequest out to the networked devices 120 based on which of the networkeddevices 120 may actively participate in a communication session. Thedevice 110 may determine which of the networked devices 120 may activelyparticipate based on the information received from the networked devices120.

After one or more of the networked devices 120 accepts the request, thedevice 110 may establish the communication session between the one ofthe networked devices 120 that accepted the request and the remotedevice 114. The device 110 may further indicate to the other networkeddevices 120 that a communication session is being established. The othernetworked devices 120 may request active participation, passiveparticipation, or no participation in the communication session.Alternatively or additionally, at any point during the communicationsession, a participation status of the other networked devices 120 maychange between active participation, passive participation, and noparticipation in the communication session. Alternatively oradditionally, the device 110 may indicate the participation of thenetworked devices 120 in the communication session.

During the communication session, the device 110 may receive remoteaudio from the remote device 114. The remote audio may be provided tothe actively participating networked devices 120. Alternatively oradditionally, the remote audio may be provided to passivelyparticipating networked devices 120. Thus, in some embodiments, theremote audio may be provided to each of the participating networkeddevices 120.

The remote audio may also be provided to the transcription system 140over the first network 102. The transcription system 140 may generatetranscript data of the remote audio and provide the transcript data tothe device 110. The device 110 may provide the transcript data to theparticipating networked devices 120 that are configured to presenttranscriptions.

In some embodiments, each of the actively participating networkeddevices 120 may also generate and send networked device audio to thedevice 110. In these and other embodiments, the device 110 may send thenetworked device audio over the PSTN 112 to the remote device 114. Insome embodiments, the device 110 may also send the networked deviceaudio to each of the other networked devices 120 participating in thecommunication session over the second network 130. Furthermore, thedevice 110 may also send the networked device audio to the transcriptionsystem 140 over the first network 102. The device 110 may receivetranscript data from the transcription system 140 of the networkeddevice audio. The device 110 may provide the transcript data of thenetworked device audio to each of the participating networked devices120 except the one of the networked devices 120 that generated thenetworked device audio. Alternatively or additionally, the device 110may provide the transcript data of the networked device audio to each ofthe participating networked device 120. Thus, multiple users mayparticipate in the communication session and receive transcript data ofaudio during the communication session of the audio that the multipleusers did not originate.

When the remote device 114 terminates the communication session, thedevice 110 may receive an indication of the termination and terminatethe communication session with each of the participating networkeddevices 120. When all of the actively participating networked devices120 terminate the communication session, the device 110 may terminatethe communication session with the remote device 114 and the passivelyparticipating networked devices 120. In these and other embodiments,when one of the actively participating networked devices 120 terminatesthe communication session but another actively participating networkeddevice 120 does not terminate the communication session, the device 110may maintain the communication session with the remote device 114. Inthese and other embodiments, the actively participating networkeddevices 120 that previously terminated their active participation in thecommunication session may become passively participating networkeddevices 120 or may be removed from the communication session such thatno further audio and/or transcript data are provided to the previousactively participating networked devices 120.

As another example, in some embodiments, a communication session may berequested by the first networked device 120 a. In these and otherembodiments, the first networked device 120 a may send a request for acommunication session to the device 110. The device 110 may send therequest to the remote device 114. After the remote device 114 acceptsthe request, the device 110 may provide an indication of thecommunication to the other networked devices 120 so that the othernetworked devices 120 may actively or passively participate in thecommunication session. As described previously, the audio during thecommunication session may be provided to some or all of theparticipating networked devices 120, the transcription system 140, andthe remote device 114. Furthermore, transcript data of the audio fromthe transcription system 140 may be provided to the participatingnetworked devices 120.

Another example of the operation of elements in the environment 100 isnow provided. In this example, the first networked device 120 a may be asmartphone, the second networked device 120 b may be a Bluetoothneck-loop that provides audio to a hearing aid of a first user, and thethird networked device 120 c may be a television. In these and otherembodiments, the first networked device 120 a may actively participate,the second networked device 120 b may passively participate and beconfigured to receive audio and no transcript data and the thirdnetworked device 120 c may passively participate and be configured toreceive transcript data and no audio. Furthermore, in this example, theremote device 114 may be a regular PSTN phone.

The device 110 may be associated with a PSTN phone number. In someembodiments, although not illustrated, a regular PSTN phone may becoupled to the PSTN 112 along with the device 110 in a residence of thefirst user and a second user. The remote device 114 may place a call toa phone number associated with an end node of the PSTN 112 coupled tothe device 110 and the regular PSTN phone. In these and otherembodiments, the central office of the PSTN 112 may be unaware of thedevice 110. Rather, the central office and the PSTN 112 may not beconfigured differently than if the end node of the PSTN 112 coupled tothe device 110 was only coupled to a regular PSTN phone. From theperspective of the PSTN 112, the device 110 may behave as a regular PSTNphone.

After the call is placed by the remote device 114, the PSTN 112 mayforward the request to the device 110 and the PSTN phone that is coupledto the PSTN 112 along with the device 110 in a residence of the firstuser and a second user. The PSTN phone may ring and the device 110 maylook at the registry and determine the networked devices 120 that areregistered. Of the registered devices, the first networked device 120 amay actively participate in the communication session. The device 110may indicate to the first networked device 120 a that a request for thecommunication session has been received. The second user may requestthat the communication session be established using the first networkeddevice 120 a, which is a smart phone. The device 110 may follow theprotocol to establish the communication session with the remote device114. The device 110 may also indicate to the second networked device 120b and the third networked device 120 c that a communication session isoccurring and the second networked device 120 b and the third networkeddevice 120 c may request to participate in the communication session aspassive devices.

Second user audio generated by the first networked device 120 a may beprovided to the device 110 over the second network 130. The device 110may provide the second user audio to the second networked device 120 b,the transcription system 140, and the remote device 114. The audio maynot be provided to the third networked device 120 c based on the thirdnetworked device 120 c being configured to not present audio. Thetranscript data of the second user audio may be provided to the thirdnetworked device 120 c and presented by the third networked device 120c. The transcript data may not be provided to the second networkeddevice 120 b based on the second networked device 120 b not beingconfigured to present transcript data. Alternatively or additionally,the transcript data may be provided to the first networked device 120 a.

Third party audio may be generated by the remote device 114 and providedto the device 110. The device 110 may direct the remote audio to thetranscription system 140, the first networked device 120 a, and thesecond networked device 120 b. The transcript data of the remote audiois also provided to the first networked device 120 a and the thirdnetworked device 120 c. Alternatively or additionally, the transcriptdata may be provided to other devices of the networked devices 120 thatare configured to receive transcript data. Thus, in this example, thesecond user may actively participate in the communication session withthe remote device 114 using the smartphone. The second user may also bepresented transcript data of audio from the remote device 114 by thefirst networked device 120 a.

The first user may passively participate in the communication sessionusing the Bluetooth neck device and the television. In these and otherembodiments, the first user may be presented audio from the firstnetworked device 120 a and the remote device 114 by way of the Bluetoothneck device and transcript data of the audio from the first networkeddevice 120 a and the remote device 114 may be presented to the firstuser by way of the television.

In these and other embodiments, the PSTN phone that is coupled to thePSTN 112 along with the device 110 in a residence of the first user anda second user may join and be part of the communication session. In someembodiments, transcript data of the audio from the regular PSTN phonemay be created. Alternatively or additionally, transcript data of theaudio from the regular PSTN phone may not be created. In any event,transcript data of the audio from the remote device 114 may be availableon one or more of the networked devices 120 such that a third user mayparticipate in the communication session using the regular PSTN phonewhile viewing transcriptions from the transcript data of the audio fromthe remote device 114 on one of the networked devices 120.

Modifications, additions, or omissions may be made to the environment100 without departing from the scope of the present disclosure. Forexample, the environment 100 may include more or less than the threenetworked devices 120 illustrated. Alternatively or additionally, thedevice 110 may include multiple devices. An example is provided withrespect to FIG. 3. Furthermore, the environment 100 is illustrated asincluding the PSTN 112. The environment 100 may be configured to notinclude the PSTN 112. In these and other embodiments, the device 110 mayinclude another network or may use the first network 102 to communicatewith the remote device 114. In these and other embodiments, additionaldata, such as video data may be shared among the remote device 114, thedevice 110, and the networked devices 120.

As another example, in some embodiments, a user of the remote device 114may be hearing impaired. In these and other embodiments, thetranscription system 140 may provide transcript data of audio to theremote device 114 through a connection between the remote device 114 andthe transcription system 140.

As another example, in some embodiments, the transcription system 140may provide alterations to the device 110 of previously providedtranscript data. In these and other embodiments, the device 110 maydistribute the alterations to the networked devices 120.

FIG. 2 illustrates an example network device 200. The device 200 may bearranged in accordance with at least one embodiment described in thepresent disclosure. The device 200 may include a processor 210, a memory212, a first network interface 220 a, a second network interface 220 b,a third network interface 220 c, and a fourth network interface 220 d,referred to collectively as the network interfaces 220.

In some embodiments, the device 200 may be an example of the device 110of FIG. 1. In these and other embodiments, the device 200 may beconfigured to provide the functionality of the device 110.

Generally, the processor 210 may include any suitable special-purpose orgeneral-purpose computer, computing entity, or processing deviceincluding various computer hardware or software modules and may beconfigured to execute instructions stored on any applicablecomputer-readable storage media. For example, the processor 210 mayinclude a microprocessor, a microcontroller, a digital signal processor(DSP), an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC), aField-Programmable Gate Array (FPGA), or any other digital or analogcircuitry configured to interpret and/or to execute program instructionsand/or to process data.

Although illustrated as a single processor in FIG. 2, it is understoodthat the processor 210 may include any number of processors distributedacross any number of networks or physical locations that are configuredto perform individually or collectively any number of operationsdescribed herein. In some embodiments, the processor 210 may interpretand/or execute program instructions and/or processing data stored in thememory 212. By interpreting and/or executing program instructions and/orprocess data stored in the memory 212, the device 200 may performoperations, such as the operations performed by the device 110 of FIG.1.

The memory 212 may include computer-readable storage media or one ormore computer-readable storage mediums for carrying or havingcomputer-executable instructions or data structures stored thereon. Suchcomputer-readable storage media may be any available media that may beaccessed by a general-purpose or special-purpose computer, such as theprocessor 210. By way of example, and not limitation, suchcomputer-readable storage media may include non-transitorycomputer-readable storage media including Random Access Memory (RAM),Read-Only Memory (ROM), Electrically Erasable Programmable Read-OnlyMemory (EEPROM), Compact Disc Read-Only Memory (CD-ROM) or other opticaldisk storage, magnetic disk storage or other magnetic storage devices,flash memory devices (e.g., solid state memory devices), or any otherstorage medium which may be used to carry or store desired program codein the form of computer-executable instructions or data structures andwhich may be accessed by a general-purpose or special-purpose computer.Combinations of the above may also be included within the scope ofcomputer-readable storage media. In these and other embodiments, theterm “non-transitory” as used herein should be construed to exclude onlythose types of transitory media that were found to fall outside thescope of patentable subject matter in the Federal Circuit decision of Inre Nuijten, 500 F.3d 1346 (Fed. Cir. 2007). In some embodiments,computer-executable instructions may include, for example, instructionsand data configured to cause the processor 210 to perform a certainoperation or group of operations as described in the present disclosure.

The first network interface 220 a may be a PSTN network interface. Thesecond network interface 220 b may be a Bluetooth network interface. Thethird network interface 220 c may be an Ethernet network interface. Thefourth network interface 220 d may be a wireless network interface. Thenetwork interfaces 220 may each be configured to handle their associatedprotocol and to provide the information to the processor 210 and/orother elements of the device 200 not illustrated.

For example, the first network interface 220 a may be configured tohandle protocols for a PSTN. In these and other embodiments, the firstnetwork interface 220 a may be configured to recognize dial tones,voltages, and other aspects of protocols for transmission and receptionof audio over a PSTN. In some embodiments, the first network interface220 a may receive analog audio from a PSTN. The first network interface220 a may convert the analog audio to digital audio and provide thedigital audio to the processor 210. The processor 210 may provide thedigital audio to other of the network interfaces 220 for transmission toother devices/systems, such as the transcription system 140 and thenetworked devices 120 of FIG. 1.

The first network interface 220 a may be configured to handle otherprotocols associated with a PSTN. For example, the first networkinterface 220 a may be configured to detect tones that indicate a voicemail is available, such as shutter tones. In these and otherembodiments, the first network interface 220 a may be configured toobtain the voice mail, convert the voice mail to a digital voice mail,and provide the digital voice mail to the processor 210. In these andother embodiments, the processor 210 may be configured to provide thedigital voice mail to the third network interface 220 c for transmissionto a transcription system. The processor 210 may also be configured toprovide an indication of and/or the digital voice mail to one or moreother devices by way of the second network interface 220 b or the fourthnetwork interface 220 d.

In some embodiments, the first network interface 220 a may also beconfigured to determine if the PSTN is functioning properly. Forexample, the first network interface 220 a may determine if there is nodial tone on the PSTN. In these and other embodiments, the first networkinterface 220 a may indicate the improper function of the PSTN to theprocessor 210. The processor 210 may provide an indication of theimproper function of the PSTN to an entity that oversees the PSTNthrough one or more of the other network interfaces 220. In these andother embodiments, the processor 210 may be further configured to directcommunication sessions directed to the PSTN to another network such thata communication session may be established even though the PSTN is notfunctioning properly.

The second network interface 220 b may be configured to handle protocolsassociated with a Bluetooth network. In these and other embodiments, thesecond network interface 220 b may receive digital data from theprocessor 210 for transmission over the Bluetooth network and senddigital data to the processor 210 received over the Bluetooth network.The second network interface 220 b may package the digital data andhandle the handshaking for communication with other devices over theBluetooth network.

The third network interface 220 c may be configured to handle protocolsassociated with an Ethernet network. In these and other embodiments, thethird network interface 220 c may receive digital data from theprocessor 210 for transmission over the Ethernet network and senddigital data to the processor 210 received over the Ethernet network.The third network interface 220 c may package the digital data andhandle the handshaking for communication with other devices over theEthernet network.

The fourth network interface 220 d may be configured to handle protocolsassociated with a wireless network. In these and other embodiments, thefourth network interface 220 d may receive digital data from theprocessor 210 for transmission over the wireless network and senddigital data to the processor 210 received over the wireless network.The fourth network interface 220 d may package the digital data andhandle the handshaking for communication with other devices over thewireless network.

An example of the operation of the device 200 is provided. The exampleassumes that the device 200 is used in place of the device 110 ofFIG. 1. A communication session may be established using the firstnetwork interface 220 a with the remote device 114. Third party audiofrom the first network interface 220 a may be provided to the processor210. The processor 210 may direct the remote audio to the third networkinterface 220 c for transmission over the first network 102 to thetranscription system 140. The third network interface 220 c may alsoreceive remote transcript data of the remote audio and provide theremote transcript data to the processor 210. The processor 210 mayprovide the remote audio and the remote transcript data to the fourthnetwork interface 220 d for transmission over the wireless network tothe third networked device 120 c.

The fourth network interface 220 d may also receive networked audio fromthe third networked device 120 c over the wireless network and providethe networked audio to the processor 210. The processor 210 may directthe networked audio to the third network interface 220 c fortransmission to the transcription system 140 and to the first networkinterface 220 a for transmission over the PSTN 112 to the remote device114. The transcription system 140 may provide a networked transcriptdata to the third network interface 220 c, which may provide thenetworked transcript data to the processor 210. The processor 210 maysend the networked transcript data, the networked audio, the remoteaudio, and the remote transcript data to the second network interface220 b for transmission over the Bluetooth network to the secondnetworked device 120 b.

Modifications, additions, or omissions may be made to the device 200without departing from the scope of the present disclosure. For example,the device 200 may include more or fewer network interfaces 220. Forexample, the device 200 may be coupled to a wireless router that mayhandle the wireless network hand shaking and protocol. In these andother embodiments, the third network interface 220 c may handle thetraffic for both the third network interface 220 c and the fourthnetwork interface 220 d as illustrated.

Alternatively or additionally, the network interfaces 220 may beconfigured for different types of networks than those described.Alternatively or additionally, the device 200 may include additionalcomponents/elements that may interact with the processor 210 and thenetwork interfaces 220 to provide the functionality of the device 200 asdescribed in the present disclosure.

FIG. 3 illustrates another example environment 300 for communicationsessions that include presentations of transcriptions of thecommunication sessions. The environment 300 may be arranged inaccordance with at least one embodiment described in the presentdisclosure. The environment 300 may include a first network 302, adevice 310, a second network 312, a remote device 314, a first networkeddevice 320 a, a second networked device 320 b, a third networked device320 c (referred to collectively as the networked devices 320), a secondnetwork 330, and a transcription system 340.

The first network 302, the networked devices 320, and the transcriptionsystem 340 may be analogous to the first network 102, the networkeddevices 120, and the transcription system 140 of FIG. 1, respectively,and no further description is provided herein. The second network 312may be analogous to the first network 302 and the first network 102 ofFIG. 1. In some embodiments, the second network 312 may be the same asthe first network 302.

The remote device 314 may be an electronic device with which acommunication session may be established. In these and otherembodiments, the communication session may be an audio or a videocommunication session.

The device 310 may include the functionality of the device 110 of FIG. 1as well as additional functionality. In some embodiments, the device 310may include a routing device 350 and a phone console 352. The phoneconsole 352 may include a display, a microphone, a speaker, and ahandset. The phone console 352 may be configured to establish acommunication session with the remote device 314, using either video oraudio. The phone console 352 may be further configured to present atranscription of the video or audio from the communication session basedon transcript data. In these and other embodiments, a communicationsession with the phone console 352 may also be joined by one or more ofthe networked devices 320 in the manner described with respect to FIG.1.

The routing device 350 may be a routing device that is a slave to thephone console. The routing device 350 may be configured to interfacewith the different wireless networks of the second network 330. In theseand other embodiments, the phone console 352 may direct the routing ofaudio, video, and transcriptions among the networked devices 320 and theremote device 314 by way of the routing device 350. In these and otherembodiments, the routing device 350 may be used to handle theestablishment of connections and handling protocol and packet handlingbetween the phone console 352, the networked devices 320, and thetranscription system 340. In some embodiments, the phone console 352 maytalk directly to the transcription system 340 over the first network302.

Modifications, additions, or omissions may be made to the environment300 without departing from the scope of the present disclosure. Forexample, the routing device 350 may be part of the phone console 352,such that the device 310 is housed in a single housing, analogous todevice 110 of FIG. 1. Alternately or additionally, the routing device350 and the phone console 352 may be coupled through a different networkthan the second network 330, such as a wired network.

FIG. 4 illustrates another example environment 400 for communicationsessions that include presentations of transcriptions of thecommunication sessions. The environment 400 may be arranged inaccordance with at least one embodiment described in the presentdisclosure. The environment 400 includes a first device 410, a wirelessaccess point 430, an adapter 432, and a user device 420.

The environment 400 illustrates another embodiment of a portion of theenvironment 300 or the environment 100 of FIGS. 3 and 1, respectively.For example, the first device 410 and the wireless access point 430 maytogether perform the functionality of the device 110 of FIG. 1 and/orthe device 200 of FIG. 2. In these and other embodiments, the firstdevice 410 may include a processor to direct the operations performed bythe device 110 of FIG. 1 and/or the device 200 of FIG. 2. The wirelessaccess point 430 may be analogous to the fourth network interface 220 dof FIG. 2 and may provide information protocol and packet handling for awireless network.

The user device 420 and the adapter 432 may together perform thefunctionality of one of the networked devices 120 and/or networkeddevices 320 of FIGS. 1 and 3, respectively. In these and otherembodiments, the user device 420 may be a device that providesfunctionality outside of the systems/methods described in the presentdisclosure. For example, the user device 420 may be a display. Theadapter 432 may be used in connection with the user device 420 so thattogether the adapter 432 and the user device 420 may activelyparticipate in a communication session and present a transcription ofthe communication session based on transcript data. For example, theuser device 420 may be a television that does not include a microphone.The adapter 432 may be a microphone and include a processor and softwarethat is configured to communicate with the first device 410 over awireless network. The adapter 432 may provide audio and transcript datato the user device 420 for presentation by the user device 420 and mayhandle other functionality of the networked devices 120 and thenetworked devices 320 described in this disclosure.

Modifications, additions, or omissions may be made to the environment400 without departing from the scope of the present disclosure. Forexample, the wireless access point 430 and the first device 410 may becombined as a single device.

FIGS. 5a and 5b illustrates example operations 500 to enablecommunication sessions that include presentations of transcriptions ofthe communication sessions. The operations 500 may be arranged inaccordance with at least one embodiment described in the presentdisclosure. The operations 500 may include examples of communicationsand interactions between and operations performed by a device 510, aremote device 514, a first networked device 520 a, a second networkeddevice 520 b, a third networked device 520 c (the networked devices520), and a transcription system 540. In some embodiments, the device510, the remote device 514, the first networked device 520 a, the secondnetworked device 520 b, the third networked device 520 c, and thetranscription system 540 may be analogous to the device 110, the remotedevice 114, the first networked device 120 a, the second networkeddevice 120 b, the third networked device 120 c, and the transcriptionsystem 140, respectively, of FIG. 1. Accordingly, no further explanationis provided with respect thereto.

Generally, the operations 500 may relate to presentation oftranscriptions of audio presented by one or more of the networkeddevices 520. The interactions between the device 510, the remote device514, the first networked device 520 a, the second networked device 520b, the third networked device 520 c, and the transcription system 540may occur over one or more networks as previously described and asdescribed with respect to FIGS. 5a and 5b . The operations 500illustrated are not exhaustive but are merely representative ofoperations 500 that may occur. Furthermore, one operation as illustratedmay represent one or more communications, operations, and/or dataexchanges between the device 510, the remote device 514, the firstnetworked device 520 a, the second networked device 520 b, the thirdnetworked device 520 c, and the transcription system 540.

At operation 542, the first networked device 520 a may register with thedevice 510 over a first network. The first networked device 520 a mayregister with the device 510 after being discovered by the device 510.In these and other embodiments, the first networked device 520 a maytransmit data packets over the first network that include an identifierassociated with the device 510. When the device 510 recognizes that adata packet is being transmitted over the first network, the device 510may send a discovery request to the first networked device 520 a tothereby allow the first networked device 520 a to register with thedevice 510. Alternatively or additionally, the device 510 may send outdiscover requests over the first network and the first networked device520 a may respond to the discover request.

In some embodiments, the first network may be a wireless network. Forexample, the first network may be a short-range wireless network, suchas a wireless local area network (LAN), a personal area network (PAN),or a wireless mesh network (WMN) as described in this disclosure. Asdescribed in this disclosure, the device 510 and the first networkeddevice 520 a may be located such that communication over the short-rangewireless network occurs without intermediary devices, such as additionalservers or routers in other cloud based or Internet Protocol (IP) basednetworks.

In some embodiments, registration with the device 510 may include thefirst networked device 520 a indicating the capabilities of the firstnetworked device 520 a to the device 510. The capabilities may includewhether the first networked device 520 a is able to receive andbroadcast audio with a speaker, capture audio through a microphone andtransmit the captured audio, receive transcript data and displaytranscriptions based on the transcript data, present a notification of acommunication session, for example ringing or other notification,present communication session requester information, such as calleridentification, among other capabilities. With respect to the exampleillustrated in FIGS. 5a and 5b , the first networked device 520 a mayinclude an ability to receive and broadcast audio with a speaker andpresent a notification of a communication session.

At operation 544, the second networked device 520 b may register withthe device 510 over a second network. The second networked device 520 bmay register with the device 510 after being discovered by the device510. The second networked device 520 b may be discovered in an analogousmanner as described with the respect to the discovery of the firstnetworked device 520 a.

In some embodiments, the second network may be a wireless network. Forexample, the second network may be a short-range wireless network, suchas a wireless local area network (LAN), a personal area network (PAN),or a wireless mesh network (WMN) as described in this disclosure. Asdescribed in this disclosure, the device 510 and the first networkeddevice 520 a may be located such that communication over the short-rangewireless network occurs without intermediary devices, such as additionalservers or routers in other cloud based or Internet Protocol (IP) basednetworks. As described with respect to FIGS. 5a and 5b , the firstnetwork and the second network may be different types of short-rangewireless networks. However, in other embodiments, the first network andthe second network may be the same type of short-range wireless network.

With respect to the example illustrated in FIGS. 5a and 5b , the secondnetworked device 520 b may register with the device 510 by indicatingthat the second networked device 520 b includes an ability to receiveand broadcast audio with a speaker, capture audio through a microphoneand transmit the captured audio, and present a notification of acommunication session.

At operation 546, the third networked device 520 c may register with thedevice 510 over the first network. Alternatively or additionally, thethird networked device 520 c may communicate with the device 510 overthe second network or a third network that is a short-range wirelessnetwork. The third networked device 520 c may register with the device510 after being discovered by the device 510. The third networked device520 c may be discovered in an analogous manner as described with respectto the discovery of the first networked device 520 a.

With respect to the example illustrated in FIGS. 5a and 5b , the thirdnetworked device 520 c may register with the device 510 by indicatingthat the third networked device 520 c includes an ability to receivetranscript data and display transcriptions based on the transcript data.

At operation 548, the device 510 may receive a communication requestfrom the remote device 514 over a fourth network. The fourth network mayinclude portions of a telecommunications network for sending data over avariety of different communication protocols. The interface with thedevice 510 may be a cellular type network, a PSTN network, an IP network(such as a mobile data network or wired IP network) or other type ofcommunication network, such as a short range wireless network where thecommunication request is routed to the device 510 from thetelecommunications network.

The device 510 may be configured to interface with the fourth networkand handle the network and communication protocols to respond to thecommunication request and establish a communication session with theremote device 514.

At operation 550, in response to the communication request, the device510 may send a notification to the first networked device 520 a and thesecond networked device 520 b. The notification may be sent to the firstnetworked device 520 a and the second networked device 520 b based onthe first networked device 520 a and the second networked device 520 bregistering with the device 510 as including the ability to present anotification of a communication session. In some embodiments, the device510 may send the notification using a protocol unique to thecommunication between the device 510 and the networked devices 520. Inthese and other embodiments, the networked devices 520 may not be awareof the protocol or network from which the device 510 received thecommunication request. Rather, the networked devices 520 may respondusing the protocol unique to the communication between the device 510and the networked devices 520 without concern of any additionalcommunication protocols that may be used to communicate with the remotedevice 514.

For example, when the fourth network is a PSTN line, the device 510 maysend the notification at operation 550. The notification may be inresponse to a sine wave or other change in voltage or current on thefourth network indicating a communication request. The device 510 maynot revoke the notification until after the sine wave or other change involtage indicates that the request has ended or until some other actionis taken, such as directing the communication request to voice mail.

At operation 552, the second networked device 520 b may send acommunication to the device 510 answering the request. The communicationmay be sent by the second networked device 520 b in response to a userinteraction with the second networked device 520 b. For example, thesecond networked device 520 b may provide an indication of thenotification by broadcasting audio, vibrating, and/or emitting light. Inresponse, the user may interact with the second networked device 520 b.For example, when the second networked device 520 b is a PSTN phone, theuser may move a receiver to place the receiver in an off-hook state.Alternatively or additionally, the second networked device 520 b may bea tablet or smart phone. In these and other embodiments, a user of thesecond networked device 520 b may click a button or interact with ascreen of the second networked device 520 b to indicate to the secondnetworked device 520 b to respond to the notification and request toestablish a communication session.

At operation 554, the device 510 may follow an appropriate protocol toestablish a communication session with the remote device 514. The remotedevice 514 may be unaware that the user is not interacting with thedevice 510 during the communication session. From the perspective of theremote device 514 and the fourth network, the device 510 may be the onlydevice participating in the communication session. In short, the device510 may function as a gate keeper and handle communications between thenetworked devices 520 and the device 510 without involving the remotedevice 514. As a result, the networked devices 520 are unware of theremote device 514 and the type of the fourth network. As a result, thenetworked devices 520 may include no additional hardware or software toallow them to participate in communication sessions that occur over arange of different types of networks.

The communication session may include passing of audio and/or video backand forth between the remote device 514 and the device 510. For example,a user of the remote device 514 and a user of one or more of thenetworked devices 520 may carry on an audio only conversation or anaudio and video conversation during the communication session.

At operation 556, the device 510 may obtain remote audio from the remotedevice 514. The remote audio may be audio captured by the remote device514 that includes speech of the user of the remote device 514.

At operation 558, the device 510 may relay the remote audio to the firstnetworked device 520 a and the second networked device 520 b. The device510 may relay the remote audio to the first networked device 520 a andthe second networked device 520 b because the first networked device 520a and the second networked device 520 b indicated during theregistration an ability to receive and broadcast audio.

The device 510 may be further configured to direct the remote audio tothe transcription system 540. In some embodiments, the device 510 maydirect the remote audio to the transcription system 540 over a fifthnetwork. In these and other embodiments, the fifth network may be an IPnetwork, such as the Internet.

At operation 560, the device 510 may obtain transcript data from thetranscription system 540. The transcript data may be generated by thetranscription system 540 based on the remote audio. In these and otherembodiments, the transcript data may include a transcription of theremote audio. The transcription system 540 may generate the transcriptdata in substantially real-time. As a result, the device 510 may receivethe transcript data within one to ten seconds after sending the remoteaudio to the transcription system 540.

At operation 562, the first networked device 520 a may be configured topresent the remote audio received from the device 510. Presenting theremote audio may include broadcasting the remote audio through a speakerinto the air to allow a user to hear the remote audio. At operation 564,the second networked device 520 b may be configured to present theremote audio received from the device 510. The operations 562 and 564may occur at substantially the same-time such that there is little or nodifference or delay between the remote audio presented by the firstnetworked device 520 a and the second networked device 520 b.

At operation 566, the device 510 may send the transcript data to thethird networked device 520 c. At operation 568, the third networkeddevice 520 c may be configured to present a transcription of the remoteaudio based on the transcript data. To present the transcription, thethird networked device 520 c may display the transcription on a screento be read by a user of the third networked device 520 c.

The transcription may be presented to be substantially aligned with thepresentation of the remote audio by the first networked device 520 a andthe second networked device 520 b. For example, when the remote audioincludes speech that includes a first word, the transcription of thefirst word may be displayed within one to ten seconds after the firstword is broadcast as part of the remote audio. The transcription mayassist a user of the first networked device 520 a and/or the secondnetworked device 520 b to understand speech in the remote audio.

At operation 570, the second networked device 520 b may record localaudio based on sounds presented at a microphone of the second networkeddevice 520 b. The sounds may be based on speech of a user of the secondnetworked device 520 b that is participating in the communicationsession. The local audio may be a digitized version of the speech of theuser.

At operation 572, the second networked device 520 b may send the localaudio to the device 510. The device 510 may convert the local audio tothe format needed to send the local audio to the remote device 514 andthe transcription system 540. For example, if the fourth network is aPSTN network, the device 510 may convert the digital local audio intoanalog for providing over the fourth network. As another example, if thefourth network is an IP network, the device 510 may packetize the localaudio into IP network packets for sending over the IP network.

At operation 574, the device 510 may send the local audio to the remotedevice 514, the first networked device 520 a, and to the transcriptionsystem 540. The remote device 514 may present the local audio bybroadcasting the local audio over a speaker for a user of the remotedevice 514 to hear. In this manner, a user of the second networkeddevice 520 b may communicate with a user of the remote device 514. Thetranscription system 540 may generate transcript data of the localaudio. The transcript data of the local audio may include atranscription of the local audio.

At operation 575, the first networked device 520 a may present the localaudio obtained from the device 510. As an example, the first networkeddevice 520 a may be a hearing aid that provides audio but does notinclude a microphone. Thus, a user using the first networked device 520a may passively participate in the communication session and hear a userof the remote device 514 and a user of the second networked device 520b.

Note that the second networked device 520 b does not provide the localaudio to the first networked device 520 a. In these and otherembodiments, the first networked device 520 a and the second networkeddevice 520 b may not be aware of the presence of the other. The firstnetworked device 520 a and the second networked device 520 b maycommunicate with the device 510 and be unware of other communicationsinvolving the device 510.

At operation 576, the transcription system 540 may provide thetranscript data to the device 510 over the fifth network. At operation578, the device 510 may provide the transcript data to the thirdnetworked device 520 c over the network through which the device 510 andthe third networked device 520 c are communicating, such as the secondor third network.

At operation 580, the third networked device 520 c may present atranscription of the local audio based on the transcript data of thelocal audio. The transcription may be displayed on a display so that thetranscription may be read. The transcription may be displayedsubstantially aligned with the presentation of the audio by the firstnetworked device 520 a in operation 575. In these and other embodiments,presenting the transcription of the local audio may assist a user of thefirst networked device 520 a to understand the local audio provided bythe second networked device 520 b.

At operation 582, the second networked device 520 b may indicate to thedevice 510 to end the communication session. In some embodiments, thesecond networked device 520 b may receive input from a user to end thecommunication session. The second networked device 520 b may provide theindication to the device 510.

At operation 584, the device 510 may send an end communication sessionindication to the remote device 514. In these and other embodiments, thedevice 510 may follow the protocol of the fourth network to send the endcommunication session indication. For example, when the fourth networkis a PSTN network, the device 510 may change a connection status toindicate a termination of the communication session.

At operation 585, the device 510 may send an end communication sessionto the first networked device 520 a and the third networked device 520 cto allow the first networked device 520 a and the third networked device520 c to conclude the communication session.

At operation 586, the second networked device 520 b may request acommunication session with the remote device 514. The communicationsession request may include information about the remote device 514. Theinformation may include a phone number or other identifier of the remotedevice 514. The information may be in a form particular to the protocolused between the device 510 and the third networked device 520 c. Inthese and other embodiments, the device 510 may convert the informationinto a form that may be used to send a communication session request tothe remote device 514.

At operation 588, the device 510 may send a communication request to theremote device 514 in response to receiving the request from the secondnetworked device 520 b. At operation 590, a communication session may beestablished between the device 510 and the remote device 514 based onthe request from the second networked device 520 b.

At operation 592, the second networked device 520 b may send the device510 local audio. The local audio may be audio generated by a microphoneof the second networked device 520 b based on speech of a user of thesecond networked device 520 b.

At operation 594, the device 510 may send the local audio to the remotedevice 514 as analogously performed in the operation 574. In operation596, the device 510 may obtain remote audio from the remote device 514as analogously performed in the operation 556. Additional operations maybe performed analogously to performance of the operations 558, 560, 564,and 566 as previously explained.

Modifications, additions, or omissions may be made to the operations 500without departing from the scope of the present disclosure. For example,in some embodiments, the operations 500 may not include one or more ofthe operations described. For example, the operations 500 may notinclude the operations 542, 562, 575, 576, and/or 578. In someembodiments, the operations 500 may include additional operations. Asanother example, in some embodiments, the operations 500 may be arrangedin a different order. As another example, in some embodiments, theoperations 500 may be performed by a different device. For example, theoperation 580 may be performed by another networked device or by thefirst networked device 520 a.

FIG. 6 illustrates an example environment 600 for presentation oftranscriptions. The environment 600 may be arranged in accordance withat least one embodiment described in the present disclosure. Theenvironment 600 may include a device 610, an adapter device 650 thatincludes a processing system 652, a television 660, a first cable 670,and a second cable 672. The device 610 may be analogous to the device110 and 510 of FIGS. 1 and 5. In some embodiments, the adapter device650 and the television 660 together may perform one or more of theoperations analogous to the operations performed by networked devices120 and 520 of FIGS. 1 and 5. In some embodiments, the adapter device650 and the television 660 may be analogous to the adapter 432 and theuser device 420, respectively, of FIG. 4. Accordingly, limitedexplanation to some of the elements and/or operations of the elements inthe environment 600 may be provided in the discussion of FIG. 6.

The adapter device 650 may include the processing system 652 and may becoupled to the first cable 670. The processing system 652 may includeone or more processors, computer-readable media, and other devices thatare configured to perform or cause the adapter device to performoperations discussed in this disclosure.

The first cable 670 may be configured to carry a video stream that isconfigured to be provided to the television 660. The video stream mayoriginate from a video stream source. The video stream source may be anytype of video source, such as, a DVD® player, Blue-Ray®player, cablebox, satellite television box, digital video recorder, computer,streaming player, or other device configured to provide a video stream.The first cable 670 may provide the video stream to the adapter device650.

The second cable 672 may communicatively couple the adapter device 650and the television 660. In these and other embodiments, the second cable672 may carry the video stream from the adapter device 650 to thetelevision 660. The second cable 672 may also be configured to carryadditional information from the adapter device 650 to the television660. The additional information may include a transcription oftranscript data the adapter device 650 receives from the device 610and/or control data to control the operation of the television 660.

The television 660 may be configured to display images received over thesecond cable 672. The images may include the video stream and/or theinformation from the adapter device 650. In some embodiments, thetelevision 660 may be further configured to receive commands from theadapter device 650. The commands may include turning on, coming to anawake state from a sleep state, adjusting display settings, such ascontrast and brightness, and adjusting volume levels, among othercommands.

In some embodiments, the adapter device 650 may be configured tocommunicate with the device 610 over a wireless network. In these andother embodiments, the adapter device 650 may be configured to receivetranscript data from the device 610. In response to receiving thetranscript data, the adapter device 650 may be configured to provide thetelevision 660 with the transcription from the transcript data.

In some embodiments, the adapter device 650 may be configured to combinethe video stream from the first cable 670 with the transcription. Inthese and other embodiments, the adapter device 650 may provide thetelevision 660 with the combined video stream and transcription. Inthese and other embodiments, the television 660 may be unaware of thetranscription. Rather, the television 660 may receive a video streamwith the transcription embedded therein such that the television 660merely displays the received combined stream and in the process displaysthe transcription.

In some embodiments, the video stream and the transcription may becombined such that the transcription overlays the video stream. In theseand other embodiments, the transcription may be transparent orsemitransparent such that the video stream may be partially visiblebehind the transcription. In these and other embodiments, the videostream and the transcription may be combined using an alpha blendingtechnique among other video blending techniques. In these and othertechniques, the transcription may be combined with the video stream byadjusting pixel information of the video stream to display thetranscription. Thus, in these and other embodiments, the combining ofthe video stream and the transcription does not indicate that theinformation is merely passed together to the television 660 from theadapter device 650. Rather, the combining may indicate that the pixeldata of the video stream may be altered such that when rendered, thetelevision 660 displays the video stream and the transcription in frontof the video stream. In these and other embodiments, the transcriptionmay cover a portion of the video stream that is less than ten,twenty-five, fifty, or seventy-five percent, or some other portion ofthe video stream as displayed by the television 660.

In these and other embodiments, the video stream may be a video streamthat the television 660 is displaying before the adapter device 650receives the transcript data from the device 610. In these and otherembodiments, the adapter device 650 may be relaying the video streamfrom the first cable 670 to the television 660 by way of the secondcable 672. In these and other embodiments, in response to receiving thetranscript data, the adapter device 650 may begin combining atranscription based on the transcript data and the video stream. Thecombined video stream and transcription may be provided to thetelevision 660 for display by the television 660. In these and otherembodiments, the transcription may not be associated with, correspondto, or otherwise correlate to the video stream. Rather, thetranscription may be of remote audio of a communication session directedby the device 610. The video stream may be the video stream that a userof the television 660 has selected to be viewing at the time that thecommunication session occurs and may not be related in any manner to thetranscription besides occurring in overlapping time intervals.

In some embodiments, the transcription may be provided to the television660 to be presented as closed-captioning. In these and otherembodiments, the transcription may be presented in a similar manner asclosed-captioning that is provided by a media provider in a videostream. In these and other embodiments, the transcription and the videostream may not be combined, but may be passed together to the television660.

In some embodiments, the adapter device 650 may be configured to stoprelaying the video stream to the television 660 in response to receivingtranscript data from the device 610. In these and other embodiments, theadapter device 650 may be configured to send a transcription to thetelevision 660 for display in place of the video stream. As a result,the television 660 may display the transcription without the videostream. In some embodiments, the adapter device 650 may buffer the videostream while the television 660 is presenting the transcription. Inthese and other embodiments, the adapter device 650 may be controlledthrough the device 610, which may receive commands from a differentdevice, to control the buffered video stream. As a result, the bufferedvideo stream may be played back after the communication session.

In some embodiments, the adapter device 650 may be configured to providethe transcription of transcript data when no video stream is beingprovided to the television 660. In these and other embodiments, theadapter device 650 may send the transcription to the television 660without combining the transcription with a video stream.

In some embodiments, a number of pixels used by the transcription of atotal number of pixels of the television 660 may be adjusted based onwhether the transcription is being combined with a video stream. Forexample, when the transcription is combined with a video stream, thetranscription may cover a first portion of the pixels of the videostream so that the transcription covers a first portion of thetelevision 660. When the transcription is not combined with a videostream, the transcription may cover a second portion of pixels in astream provided to the television 660 so that the transcription covers asecond portion of the television 660. In these and other embodiments,the first portion of the pixels may be less than the second portion ofthe pixels and the first portion of the television 660 may be less thanthe second portion of the television 660. For example, the first portionmay be less than ten, twenty, thirty, or fifty percent and the secondportion may be more than thirty, forty, fifty, seventy, or eighty-fivepercent. For example, when the transcription is combined with a videostream, by way of example, twenty words of the transcription may bedisplayed at one time. In contrast, when the transcription is notcombined with a video stream, by way of example, fifty words of thetranscription may be displayed at one time.

Alternatively or additionally, a font size of the transcription may beadjusted based on whether the transcription is combined with a videostream. For example, the font size of the transcription may be increasedwhen the transcription is not combined with the video stream. In theseand other embodiments, a number of words of the transcription displayedat one time may be the same whether the transcription is combined or isnot combined with the video stream.

In some embodiments, the adapter device 650 may be configured to controlthe television 660. For example, the adapter device 650 may issuecommands to the television 660 that may include turning on, coming to anawake state from a sleep state, adjusting display settings, such ascontrast and brightness, and adjusting volume levels, among othercommands.

For example, when the television 660 is not displaying images, inresponse to an indication from the device 610, the adapter device 650may issue a command to the television 660 to turn-on. In these and otherembodiments, the television 660 may not be displaying images because thetelevision 660 is turned-off, in a sleep or hibernating state, orotherwise not displaying images.

The indication from the device 610 provided to the adapter device 650may include the transcript data. Alternatively or additionally, theindication from the device 610 may be in response to the device 610establishing a communication session before local or remote audio isreceived during the communication session that may result in transcriptdata. Alternatively or additionally, the indication from the device 610may be in response to the device 610 providing audio to a transcriptionsystem when the device 610 is prepared to direct transcription data tothe television 660. In these and other embodiments, directing thetelevision to come to a state ready to display images before transcriptdata is received by the adapter device 650 may help to ensure that atranscription of the transcript data may be provided to the television660 and presented to a user without a portion of the transcription notbeing displayed as the television 660 is preparing to display images.Alternatively or additionally, the adapter device 650 may buffer thetranscription as the adapter device 650 waits for the television 660 tobe prepared to display images.

The adapter device 650 may be further configured to control a volumelevel of the television 660. In these and other embodiments, the adapterdevice 650 may adjust a volume level of the television 660, such asdecreasing a volume level of the television 660, in response to anindication from the device 610. In some embodiments, the volume levelmay be decreased such that the volume level is muted. The device 610 maybe configured to send an indication to the adapter device 650 inresponse to receiving a communication request, establishing acommunication session, obtaining audio, sending audio to a transcriptionsystem, or obtaining transcript data, among others.

In some embodiments, an adjustment of the volume level of the television660 may depend on other networked devices that are participating in acommunication session directed by the device 610. For example, when afirst networked device is participating in a communication session, thedevice 610 may indicate to the adapter device 650 to adjust thetelevision to a first volume level. In contrast, when a second networkeddevice is participating in a communication session, the device 610 mayindicate to the adapter device 650 to adjust the television to a secondvolume level that is different than the first volume level. For example,the volume level of the television when the first networked device is amobile phone may be higher than the volume level of the television whenthe first networked device is a tablet. In these and other embodiments,a location of a networked device participating in a communicationsession in relation to the location of the television 660 may result inan adjustment of the volume level of the television 660. Alternativelyor additionally, an adjustment of the display settings of the television660 may depend on other networked devices that are participating in acommunication session directed by the device 610.

In some embodiments, an adjustment of font size of a transcriptiondisplayed by the television 660 may depend on other networked devicesthat are participating in a communication session directed by the device610. For example, when a first networked device is participating in thecommunication session, the transcription may be configured with a largerfont size than when a second networked device is participating in thecommunication session.

In some embodiments, the networked devices that result in thetranscription having a larger font size may be selected based on alocation of the networked devices in relation to the television 660 asdetermined by the device 610. In these and other embodiments, the device610 may determine a location of a networked device based on a wirelessnetwork communication, signal strength over wireless or wired networks,and user input, among others. Alternatively or additionally, thenetworked devices that result in the transcription having a larger fontsize may be selected based on a user assigned to a networked deviceparticipating in the communication session. For example, a user of ahearing-aid networked device that is registered with the device 610 andparticipating in the communication session may have worse eyesight thana user of another networked device that is registered with the device610. Thus, when the hearing-aid networked device is participating in thecommunication session, the transcription may be displayed in a largerfont size. Alternatively or additionally, the device 610 may determinethat a user is using a networked device and is participating in acommunication session based on voice characteristics and log-ininformation obtained by the networked device, such as user-ID,biometrics, etc. Based on a user using a networked device participatingin the communication session, the font size of the transcription may belarger or smaller. In these and other embodiments, the device 610 and/orthe adapter device 650 may automatically adjust the volume, font size,display settings, and other configurations based on the networkeddevices participating in a communication session without input from auser.

In some embodiments, the adapter device 650 may receive audio of acommunication session from the device 610. In these and otherembodiments, the adapter device 650 may send the audio to the television660 to be broadcast by the television. In some embodiments, the firstcable 670 may already be providing audio to the television 660 asreceived over the first cable 670. In these and other embodiments, theadapter device 650 may be configured to exchange the audio received fromthe first cable 670 with the audio received by the device 610 and sendthe audio from the device 610 to the television 660. As a result, theaudio broadcast by the television 660 may not correspond with the videostream displayed by the television 660 but with the transcriptiondisplayed by the television 660.

Modifications, additions, or omissions may be made to the environment600 without departing from the scope of the present disclosure. Forexample, in some embodiments, the environment 600 may not include theadapter device 650. In these and other embodiments, the device 610 mayperform the operations of the adapter device 650 and be directly coupledwith the television over a wired or wireless connection, such as a802.11 connection, a HDMI connection, or some other connection. In theseand other embodiments, the device 610 may direct the television 660 todisplay a transcription. Alternatively or additionally, some of theoperations performed by the adapter device 650 may be performed by thetelevision 650 and others of the operations may be performed by thedevice 610. For example, the device 610 may send commands to thetelevision 610 and the television 610 may combine the transcription witha video signal to display on the television 610.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart of another example method 700 to presenttranscripts of a communication. The method 700 may be arranged inaccordance with at least one embodiment described in the presentdisclosure. The method 700 may be performed, in some embodiments, by adevice or system, such as the device 110, the device 200, the device310, and/or the device 510, or another device. In these and otherembodiments, the method 700 may be performed based on the execution ofinstructions stored on one or more non-transitory computer-readablemedia. Although illustrated as discrete blocks, various blocks may bedivided into additional blocks, combined into fewer blocks, oreliminated, depending on the desired implementation.

The method 700 may begin at block 702, where a request for acommunication session may be obtained from a remote device. At block704, in response to obtaining the request, a communication sessionnotification may be sent to a first local device.

At block 706, a communication session initiation indication may beobtained from the first local device based on user input obtained by thefirst local device. In some embodiments, the user input may be inresponse to the communication session notification. At block 708, inresponse to obtaining a communication session initiation, thecommunication session may be established with the remote device.

At block 710, after establishing the communication session with theremote device, remote audio may be obtained from the remote device. Atblock 712, the remote audio received from the remote device may bedirected to a remote transcription system and to a second local device.

At block 714, transcript data may be obtained from the remotetranscription system based on the remote audio. The transcript data mayinclude a transcription of the remote audio. At block 716, thetranscript data may be directed to a third local device. In someembodiments, the transcript data is only directed to the third localdevice such that it is not directed to the second local device.

It is understood that, for this and other processes, operations, andmethods disclosed herein, the functions and/or operations performed maybe implemented in differing order. Furthermore, the outlined functionsand operations are only provided as examples, and some of the functionsand operations may be optional, combined into fewer functions andoperations, or expanded into additional functions and operations withoutdetracting from the essence of the disclosed embodiments.

For example, in some embodiments, the method 700 may further includeobtaining first audio from a fourth local device that does not obtainthe transcript data and directing the first audio to the remote deviceas part of the communication session with the remote device.

In some embodiments, the method 700 may further include directing thefirst audio obtained from the fourth local device to the second localdevice. Alternatively or additionally, the method 700 may includeobtaining second audio from one or more of: the first local device, thesecond local device, and the third local device and directing the secondaudio to the remote device as part of the communication session with theremote device.

In some embodiments, the communication session may be a videocommunication session. In these and other embodiments, the method 700may further include, after establishing the communication session withthe remote device, obtaining remote video from the remote device anddirecting the remote video to the second local device.

FIG. 8 is a flowchart of another example method 800 to presenttranscripts of a communication. The method 800 may be arranged inaccordance with at least one embodiment described in the presentdisclosure. The method 800 may be performed, in some embodiments, by adevice or system, such as the device 110, the device 200, the device310, and/or the device 510, or another device. In these and otherembodiments, the method 800 may be performed based on the execution ofinstructions stored on one or more non-transitory computer-readablemedia. Although illustrated as discrete blocks, various blocks may bedivided into additional blocks, combined into fewer blocks, oreliminated, depending on the desired implementation.

The method 800 may begin at block 802, where information from multiplelocal devices may be obtained. The information may indicate aconfiguration of each of the multiple local devices with respect to acapability to: receive and broadcast remote audio and displaytranscriptions of the remote audio.

At block 804, a communication session may be established with a remotedevice. At block 806, after establishing the communication session withthe remote device, the remote audio may be obtained from the remotedevice.

At block 808, the remote audio may be directed to a first local deviceof the multiple local devices based on the first local device beingconfigured to receive and broadcast remote audio. In some embodiments,the first local device being configured to receive and broadcast theremote audio may be indicated by information obtained about the firstlocal device at block 802.

At block 810, transcript data that includes a transcription of theremote audio may be directed to a second local device of the multiplelocal devices based on the second local device being configured todisplay transcriptions of the remote device audio. In some embodiments,the first local device may not be configured to display transcriptionsof the remote device audio such that the transcript data is not directedto the first local device. In some embodiments, the first local devicenot being configured to display transcriptions may be indicated byinformation obtained about the first local device at block 802.Additionally or alternatively, the configurations of the second localdevice with respect to receiving or presenting audio or transcriptiondata may be indicated by information obtained about the second localdevice at block 802.

It is understood that, for this and other processes, operations, andmethods disclosed herein, the functions and/or operations performed maybe implemented in differing order. Furthermore, the outlined functionsand operations are only provided as examples, and some of the functionsand operations may be optional, combined into fewer functions andoperations, or expanded into additional functions and operations withoutdetracting from the essence of the disclosed embodiments.

For example, in some embodiments, the method 800 may further includedirecting the remote audio received from the remote device to a remotetranscription system and obtaining the transcript data from the remotetranscription system based on the remote audio.

Alternatively or additionally, the method 800 may further includedetecting the multiple local devices and after detecting the multiplelocal devices, establishing a network connection with each of themultiple local devices. In these and other embodiments, the informationindicating the configuration of each of the multiple local devices maybe obtained after establishing a network connection with each of themultiple local devices.

In some embodiments, the communication session may be a videocommunication session and the information may indicate that aconfiguration of each of the multiple local devices with respect to acapability to: receive and broadcast remote audio, receive and displayremote video, and display transcriptions of the remote device audio. Inthese and other embodiments, the method 800 may further include afterestablishing the communication session with the remote device, obtainingremote video from the remote device and directing the remote video tothe second local device based on the second local device beingconfigured to receive and display remote video.

In some embodiments, the information may indicate that a configurationof each of the multiple local devices with respect to a capability to:receive and broadcast remote audio, receive and transmit local audio,and display transcriptions of the remote device audio. In these andother embodiments, the method 800 may further include after establishingthe communication session with the remote device, obtaining local audiofrom a third local device of the multiple local devices that isconfigured to receive and transmit local audio and directing the localaudio to the remote device.

FIG. 9 is a flowchart of another example method 900 to presenttranscripts of a communication. The method 900 may be arranged inaccordance with at least one embodiment described in the presentdisclosure. The method 900 may be performed, in some embodiments, by adevice or system, such as the device 110, the device 200, the device310, and/or the device 510, or another device. In these and otherembodiments, the method 900 may be performed based on the execution ofinstructions stored on one or more non-transitory computer-readablemedia. Although illustrated as discrete blocks, various blocks may bedivided into additional blocks, combined into fewer blocks, oreliminated, depending on the desired implementation.

The method 900 may begin at block 902, where a communication sessionwith a remote device may be established over a network. In someembodiments, the network may be selected from a group including: acellular network, a public s itched telephone network, and an InternetProtocol (IP) network.

At block 904, after establishing the communication session with theremote device, remote audio may be obtained from the remote device thatis provided by the remote device as part of the communication session.

At block 906, the remote audio received from the remote device may bedirected to a local device participating in the communication sessionand to a remote transcription system. At block 908, transcript data maybe obtained from the remote transcription system based on the remoteaudio. The transcript data may include a transcription of the remoteaudio.

At block 910, the transcript data may be directed to a television forpresentation of the transcription of the remote audio by the televisionsuch that the transcription of the remote audio is presentedsubstantially aligned with presentation of the remote audio by the localdevice. In these and other embodiments, the transcript data may bedirected to the television by way of an adapter device.

It is understood that, for this and other processes, operations, andmethods disclosed herein, the functions and/or operations performed maybe implemented in differing order. Furthermore, the outlined functionsand operations are only provided as examples, and some of the functionsand operations may be optional, combined into fewer functions andoperations, or expanded into additional functions and operations withoutdetracting from the essence of the disclosed embodiments.

For example, in some embodiments, the method 900 may further includecombining the transcript data with a television video stream andproviding the combined transcript data and television video stream tothe television to present the transcription of the remote audio. Inthese and other embodiments, combining the transcript data and thetelevision video stream may include overlaying the transcription of theremote audio on the television video stream.

In some embodiments, the method 900 may further include in response todirecting the transcript data to a television, reducing a level oftelevision audio output by the television. Alternatively oradditionally, the method 900 may further include in response todirecting the transcript data to the television, directing thetelevision to come to an awake state.

In some embodiments, the method 900 may further include obtaining localaudio from the local device and directing the local audio to the remotedevice over the network.

FIG. 10 is a flowchart of another example method 1000 to presenttranscripts of a communication. The method 1000 may be arranged inaccordance with at least one embodiment described in the presentdisclosure. The method 1000 may be performed, in some embodiments, by adevice or system, such as the device 110, the device 200, the device310, and/or the device 510, or another device. In these and otherembodiments, the method 1000 may be performed based on the execution ofinstructions stored on one or more non-transitory computer-readablemedia. Although illustrated as discrete blocks, various blocks may bedivided into additional blocks, combined into fewer blocks, oreliminated, depending on the desired implementation.

The method 1000 may begin at block 1002, where audio, obtained from acommunication session established over a first network interface, may bedirected to a remote transcription system. The first network interfacemay be configured to direct first network traffic over a first networkof a first network type.

At block 1004, an indication of multiple communication devices availableto participate in the communication session may be obtained. In someembodiments, the communication session may be a video communicationsession.

At block 1006, the audio may be directed to a second network interfacefor transmission to at least a first one of the multiple communicationdevices. The second network interface may be configured to direct secondnetwork traffic over a second network of a second network type that isdifferent from the first network type.

In some embodiments, the first network may be a public switchedtelephone network and the second network may be a local wirelessnetwork. Alternatively or additionally, the first network may be acellular network and the second network may be a local wireless network.Alternatively or additionally, the first network may be an InternetProtocol (IP) network and the second network may be a local wirelessnetwork.

In some embodiments, the audio may be directed to the remotetranscription system over a third network of a third network type thatis different from the first network type and the second network type.

At block 1008, transcript data from the remote transcription systembased on the audio may be obtained. The transcript data may include atranscription of the audio.

At block 1010, the transcript data may be directed to the second networkinterface for transmission to at least a second one of the multiplecommunication devices.

In some embodiments, the first one of the multiple communication devicesand the second one of the multiple communication devices may be one ofthe following: a television, a set-top box, a smart phone, a tablet, apersonal health care device, and a telephone console, among otherdevices.

It is understood that, for this and other processes, operations, andmethods disclosed herein, the functions and/or operations performed maybe implemented in differing order. Furthermore, the outlined functionsand operations are only provided as examples, and some of the functionsand operations may be optional, combined into fewer functions andoperations, or expanded into additional functions and operations withoutdetracting from the essence of the disclosed embodiments.

For example, in some embodiments, the method 1000 may further includeobtaining second audio from a second communication session separate fromthe communication session over the first network interface and directingthe second audio to the remote transcription system. The method 1000 mayalso include obtaining a second indication of second multiplecommunication devices available to participate in the secondcommunication session and directing the second audio to the secondnetwork interface for transmission to at least a first one of the secondmultiple communication devices. The first one of the second multiplecommunication devices may be different than the first one of themultiple communication devices.

The method 1000 may also include obtaining second transcript data fromthe remote transcription system of the second audio. The secondtranscript data may include a transcription of the second audio. Themethod 1000 may further include directing the second transcript data tothe second network interface for transmission to at least a second oneof the second multiple communication devices. In some embodiments, thesecond one of the multiple communication devices may be different thanthe second one of the second multiple communication devices.

As indicated above, the embodiments described herein may include the useof a special purpose or general purpose computer (e.g., the processor210 of FIG. 2) including various computer hardware or software modules,as discussed in greater detail below. Further, as indicated above,embodiments described herein may be implemented using computer-readablemedia (e.g., the memory 212 of FIG. 2) for carrying or havingcomputer-executable instructions or data structures stored thereon.

In some embodiments, the different components, modules, engines, andservices described herein may be implemented as objects or processesthat execute on a computing system (e.g., as separate threads). Whilesome of the systems and methods described herein are generally describedas being implemented in software (stored on and/or executed by generalpurpose hardware), specific hardware implementations or a combination ofsoftware and specific hardware implementations are also possible andcontemplated.

In accordance with common practice, the various features illustrated inthe drawings may not be drawn to scale. The illustrations presented inthe present disclosure are not meant to be actual views of anyparticular apparatus (e.g., device, system, etc.) or method, but aremerely idealized representations that are employed to describe variousembodiments of the disclosure. Accordingly, the dimensions of thevarious features may be arbitrarily expanded or reduced for clarity. Inaddition, some of the drawings may be simplified for clarity. Thus, thedrawings may not depict all of the components of a given apparatus(e.g., device) or all operations of a particular method.

Terms used herein and especially in the appended claims (e.g., bodies ofthe appended claims) are generally intended as “open” terms (e.g., theterm “including” should be interpreted as “including, but not limitedto,” the term “having” should be interpreted as “having at least,” theterm “includes” should be interpreted as “includes, but is not limitedto,” etc.).

Additionally, if a specific number of an introduced claim recitation isintended, such an intent will be explicitly recited in the claim, and inthe absence of such recitation no such intent is present. For example,as an aid to understanding, the following appended claims may containusage of the introductory phrases “at least one” and “one or more” tointroduce claim recitations. However, the use of such phrases should notbe construed to imply that the introduction of a claim recitation by theindefinite articles “a” or “an” limits any particular claim containingsuch introduced claim recitation to embodiments containing only one suchrecitation, even when the same claim includes the introductory phrases“one or more” or “at least one” and indefinite articles such as “a” or“an” (e.g., “a” and/or “an” should be interpreted to mean “at least one”or “one or more”); the same holds true for the use of definite articlesused to introduce claim recitations.

In addition, even if a specific number of an introduced claim recitationis explicitly recited, those skilled in the art will recognize that suchrecitation should be interpreted to mean at least the recited number(e.g., the bare recitation of “two recitations,” without othermodifiers, means at least two recitations, or two or more recitations).Furthermore, in those instances where a convention analogous to “atleast one of A, B, and C, etc.” or “one or more of A, B, and C, etc.” isused, in general such a construction is intended to include A alone, Balone, C alone, A and B together, A and C together, B and C together, orA, B, and C together, etc. For example, the use of the term “and/or” isintended to be construed in this manner.

Further, any disjunctive word or phrase presenting two or morealternative terms, whether in the description, claims, or drawings,should be understood to contemplate the possibilities of including oneof the terms, either of the terms, or both terms. For example, thephrase “A or B” should be understood to include the possibilities of “A”or “B” or “A and B.”

However, the use of such phrases should not be construed to imply thatthe introduction of a claim recitation by the indefinite articles “a” or“an” limits any particular claim containing such introduced claimrecitation to embodiments containing only one such recitation, even whenthe same claim includes the introductory phrases “one or more” or “atleast one” and indefinite articles such as “a” or “an” (e.g., “a” and/or“an” should be interpreted to mean “at least one” or “one or more”); thesame holds true for the use of definite articles used to introduce claimrecitations.

Additionally, the use of the terms “first,” “second,” “third,” etc., arenot necessarily used herein to connote a specific order or number ofelements. Generally, the terms “first,” “second,” “third,” etc., areused to distinguish between different elements as generic identifiers.Absence a showing that the terms “first,” “second,” “third,” etc.,connote a specific order, these terms should not be understood toconnote a specific order. Furthermore, absence a showing that the termsfirst,” “second,” “third,” etc., connote a specific number of elements,these terms should not be understood to connote a specific number ofelements. For example, a first widget may be described as having a firstside and a second widget may be described as having a second side. Theuse of the term “second side” with respect to the second widget may beto distinguish such side of the second widget from the “first side” ofthe first widget and not to connote that the second widget has twosides.

All examples and conditional language recited herein are intended forpedagogical objects to aid the reader in understanding the invention andthe concepts contributed by the inventor to furthering the art, and areto be construed as being without limitation to such specifically recitedexamples and conditions. Although embodiments of the present disclosurehave been described in detail, it should be understood that the variouschanges, substitutions, and alterations could be made hereto withoutdeparting from the spirit and scope of the present disclosure.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method to present transcripts of acommunication, the method comprising: establishing, by a deviceassociated with a user, a communication session with a remote deviceover a public switched telephone network; after establishing thecommunication session with the remote device, obtaining, at the device,remote audio from the remote device that is provided by the remotedevice as part of the communication session; directing, by the deviceand during the communication session, the remote audio received from theremote device to a local device associated with the user and configuredto broadcast the remote audio to the user and to a remote transcriptionsystem, the local device and the remote transcription system onlyreceiving the remote audio by way of the device; obtaining, at thedevice, transcript data from the remote transcription system based onthe remote audio, the transcript data including a transcription of theremote audio; and directing, by the device and during the communicationsession, the transcript data to a television associated with the userfor presentation of the transcription of the remote audio by thetelevision such that the transcription of the remote audio is presentedsubstantially aligned with the broadcasting of the remote audio by thelocal device, the device, the television, and the local device eachbeing a separate distinct device that is associated with the user. 2.The method of claim 1, wherein the transcript data is directed to thetelevision by way of an adapter device.
 3. The method of claim 1,further comprising: combining the transcript data with a televisionvideo stream; and providing the combined transcript data and televisionvideo stream to the television to present the transcription of theremote audio.
 4. The method of claim 3, wherein the combining of thetranscript data and the television video stream includes overlaying thetranscription of the remote audio on the television video stream.
 5. Themethod of claim 1, further comprising, in response to directing thetranscript data to the television, reducing a level of television audiooutput by the television.
 6. The method of claim 1, further comprising,in response to directing the transcript data to the television,directing the television to come to an awake state.
 7. The method ofclaim 1, further comprising: obtaining local audio from the localdevice; and directing the local audio to the remote device over thepublic switched telephone network.
 8. A system that includes at leastone non-transitory computer-readable media configured to store one ormore instructions that, in response to being executed by one or moreprocessors, cause the system to perform the method of claim
 1. 9. Amethod to present transcripts of a communication, the method comprising:establishing, by a device associated with a user, a communicationsession with a remote device over a network; after establishing thecommunication session with the remote device, obtaining, by the device,remote audio from the remote device that is provided by the remotedevice as part of the communication session; directing, by the deviceand during the communication session, the remote audio received from theremote device to a local device associated with the user and configuredto broadcast the remote audio to the user and to a remote transcriptionsystem, the local device and the remote transcription system onlyreceiving the remote audio by way of the device; obtaining, at thedevice, transcript data from the remote transcription system based onthe remote audio, the transcript data including a transcription of theremote audio; and directing, by the device and during the communicationsession, the transcript data to a television associated with the userfor presentation of the transcription of the remote audio by thetelevision such that the transcription of the remote audio is presentedsubstantially aligned with the broadcasting of the remote audio by thelocal device, the device, the television, and the local device eachbeing a separate distinct device that is associated with the user. 10.The method of claim 9, wherein the network is selected from a groupcomprising: a cellular network, a public switched telephone network, andan Internet Protocol (IP) network.
 11. The method of claim 9, whereinthe transcript data is directed to the television by way of an adapterdevice.
 12. The method of claim 9, further comprising combining thetranscript data with a television video stream to present thetranscription of the remote audio by the television.
 13. The method ofclaim 9, further comprising, in response to directing the transcriptdata to the television, directing the television to reduce a level oftelevision audio output by the television.
 14. The method of claim 9,further comprising, in response to directing the transcript data to thetelevision, directing the television to come to an awake state.
 15. Asystem that includes at least one non-transitory computer-readable mediaconfigured to store one or more instructions that, in response to beingexecuted by one or more processors, cause the system to perform themethod of claim
 9. 16. A device comprising: one or morecomputer-readable media configured to store instructions; and at leastone processor communicatively coupled to the computer-readable media,the at least one processor configured to execute the instructions tocause the device to perform operations, the operations comprising:establish, by the device, which is associated with a user, acommunication session with a remote device over a network; afterestablishing the communication session with the remote device, obtain,at the device, remote audio from the remote device that is provided bythe remote device as part of the communication session; direct, by thedevice and during the communication session, the remote audio receivedfrom the remote device to a local device associated with the user andconfigured to broadcast the remote audio to the user and to a remotetranscription system, the local device and the remote transcriptionsystem only receiving the remote audio by way of the device; obtain, atthe device, transcript data from the remote transcription system basedon the remote audio, the transcript data including a transcription ofthe remote audio; and direct, by the device and during the communicationsession, the transcript data to a television associated with the userfor presentation of the transcription of the remote audio by thetelevision such that the transcription of the remote audio is presentedsubstantially aligned with the broadcasting of the remote audio by thelocal device, the device, the television, and the local device eachbeing a separate distinct device that is associated with the user. 17.The device of claim 16, wherein the network is selected from a groupcomprising: a cellular network, a public switched telephone network, andan Internet Protocol (IP) network.
 18. The device of claim 16, whereinthe communication session enables a remote user of the remote device toaudibly communicate with the user of the device through the remotedevice and the device, by exchange of the remote audio and audio fromthe device.
 19. The device of claim 16, wherein the communicationsession is a video communication session and the operations furthercomprise: obtain remote video from the remote device that is provided bythe remote device as part of the communication session; and direct theremote video received from the remote device to the television forpresentation of the remote video.
 20. The device of claim 16, whereinthe operations further comprise: obtaining local audio from the localdevice; and directing the local audio to the remote device as part ofthe communication session.